SIUE

Following back-to-back winning seasons, Head Coach Brian Barone delivered a breakthrough season in 2024-25. In his sixth season as head coach, Barone brought the program its first Ohio Valley Conference championship and first-ever trip to NCAA March Madness.

SIUE closed the regular season with 20 wins and finished with 22 wins, marking the most in the Division I era. The Cougars were 12-3 at home, matching their program mark for home wins, but also went 7-8 on the road to equal their most road wins. SIUE also won three neutral games. SIUE was 13-7 in OVC play for the first winning record since joining the league.

Barone’s teams have excelled defensively. During the 2024-25 season, SIUE held opponents to an average of just 66.5 points per game which led the Ohio Valley Conference and ranked 35^th in the NCAA. Their field goal percent defense of 40.2 was second best in the OVC and No. 20 nationally. That total was the best in school history since the 2006-07 season, when the Cougars still played at the Division II level. The Cougars held 20 opponents under 70 points and were 18-2 in those games.

Offensively, SIUE remained consistent averaging 71.6 points per game nearly identical to the season before. The Cougars improved their overall shooting from 42 percent to 43 percent and connected on 33 percent of their three-pointers for the second consecutive year.

Finally Barone oversaw the culmination of two long careers. Desmond Polk and Ray’Sean Taylor each finished their five-year careers under Barone. Polk finished second all-time in games played at SIUE, while Taylor authored the finest career in school history, finishing as the all-time leading scorer with 1,962 points while also finishing in the top three in school history in six other offensive categories.

The Cougars finished 17-16 in 2023-24 including a 9-9 mark in Ohio Valley Conference play. SIUE appeared in the OVC Tournament for the fourth consecutive season, a first for the program. The Cougars advanced to the second, for the second straight season, before falling to eventual tournament champion Morehead State.

SIUE established a strong home-court advantage, amassing a 12-2 record at First Community Arena, establishing a new mark for home wins at the Division I level.

For the second season in a row, SIUE was strong on the defensive end. The Cougars limited opponents to just 70.1 points per game, more than a point per game better than the previous season. The Cougars held 17 opponents below 70 points. Offensively, the Cougars improved their long-range shooting, rising to 33.2 percent from three-point range. SIUE connected on better than 72 percent of its free throws for the second straight year.

Finishing with a record of 19-14, Barone led the Cougars to a historic season in 2022-23, turning in the first winning season since SIUE made the transition to Division I play. The Cougars won  nine games in the nonconference season before winning nine in Ohio Valley Conference play, both new highs for the program at Division I. SIUE won seven true road games and also was 3-1 in neutral site games. The 10 wins away from home made SIUE the winningest road team in the league.

SIUE defeated Southern Indiana to advance to the second round of the OVC tournament for the first time.

SIUE went 3-0 at the JK54 Classic to win the November tournament hosted by Longwood. On December 21, the Cougars picked up one of their best wins since making the jump to Division I when they defeated Saint Louis 69-67. The game featured an 18-point second-half comeback by the Cougars, which was one of the largest second-half comebacks in the NCAA during the season.

Beginning with the tournament at Longwood, SIUE won six consecutive games and nine of 11, propelling the Cougars to a 10-4 start to the season.

The Cougars improved in several key offensive categories. SIUE's scoring average improved by more than seven points per game. The Cougars improved their overall shooting percentage from .418 in 2021-22 to .435 overall and from .291 to .329 from three-point range. At the free throw line, the improvement was even more dramatic, where the team connected on 72.9 percent of its shots, compared to a .690 percentage in the previous season. The Cougars were second in the league in free throw percentage, as well as free throws made and free throws attempted. 

The improved offense didn't come at the expense of defense. The Cougars held opponents to 71.3 points per game, good for second in the OVC. SIUE foes were limited to a .425 shooting percentage from the field, which also was second in the league. 

Under Barone, Ray’Sean Taylor became SIUE’s first-ever All-OVC First Team selection. Damarco Minor was named to the league’s All-newcomer team. 

With 11 wins during the 2021-22 season, Barone guided SIUE to its second most wins in the Division I era. It marked just the sixth time the Cougars had won at least 10 games since moving to Division I play.

Despite still contending with lingering Covid-19 concerns, SIUE returned to Evansville for the Ohio Valley Conference for the second consecutive year.

Under Barone, freshmen Ray’Sean Taylor and DeeJuan Pruitt stood out among a talented roster. Taylor was on pace for a historic season before suffering a second ACL tear forcing him to miss the final 11 games. At the time of his injury, he was averaging 17.6 points per game, which would have been second in the OVC and was the most for any first-year player. Pruitt led the Cougars in rebounding at 6.8 points per game which was good for fourth in the OVC. He was third on the team in scoring at 10.2 points per game, which was 21st in the league.

Barone led the Cougars through an unprecedented 2020-2021 campaign, guiding the team back to the Ohio Valley Conference tournament despite overwhelming challenges.

The Cougars won nine total games, including six road wins, setting a new program high for road wins in the Division I era, including a 20-point triumph at Northern Illinois, the largest road win since the reclassification. SIUE also won road games at eventual OVC champion Morehead State, Tennessee State, Eastern Illinois, UT Martin and Tennessee Tech. The win at Tennessee Tech also was a first for the program. The team won seven OVC games, marking the second most OVC wins.

SIUE also had to contend with 10 canceled or postponed contests related to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and finished the season playing 18 games in just 37 days.

 Under Barone, twins Shamar and Lamar Wright continued to develop. Shamar finished third on the team in scoring at 9.0 points per game and was second in rebounding at 4.6 boards a game. Lamar led the OVC in blocked shots at 1.9 per game while scoring 6.5 points and grabbing 3.4 rebounds per game.

The highlight of Barone's first season came with a historic 79-69 win on the road at Belmont. It was the program's first-ever win over Belmont and came among five Ohio Valley Conference victories. The Cougars also won road OVC games at Eastern Illinois and UT Martin during the season. SIUE also triumphed over Southeast Missouri and Eastern Kentucky at home. 

Barone presided over the final year of Brandon Jackson and Tyresse Williford's careers. Jackson finished his career as the program's all-time leader in games played (122) and 22nd in scoring with 906 points. Williford finished his career 12th all-time in assists (242) despite playing just two seasons. He is ninth all-time with an average of 4.0 assists per game for his career.  

Even before coming to SIUE, Barone boasted previous NCAA Division I experience as an assistant as well as stints as an assistant and head coach in the junior college ranks.

Barone’s most recent Division I experience came at Green Bay under current Bradley head coach Brian Wardle. In five years on the Green Bay staff, Barone helped guide the Phoenix to a 95-65 overall record. In 2014-15, Green Bay posted a 24-7 record and claimed the Horizon League’s regular season championship.

While at Green Bay, Barone was instrumental in the recruitment and development of two-time Horizon League Player of the Year Keifer Sykes and second round 2015 NBA Draft Pick Alec Brown. More than 10 Green Bay players from Barone’s tenure went on to play professionally.

Prior to his time in Green Bay, Barone was on staff at Indiana University as the Hoosiers' director of basketball operations/video coordinator where he worked under his college head coach Tom Crean. He began at IU in 2008 after serving the 2007-08 campaign as the coordinator of basketball operations and video coordinator at Marquette.

Barone's first Division I coaching experience came at Illinois State. He spent four seasons (from 2003-04 through 2006-07) as an assistant coach for the Redbirds where he helped resurrect a program that had just eight wins the year prior to his arrival.

He also has experience in the junior college ranks, with coaching stops at Butler Community College, Garden City Community College and Central Florida Community College.

As a player, Barone played his first two seasons at Texas A&M, playing for his father Tony Barone, Sr. He earned honorable mention all-Big XII accolades as a sophomore following the 1997-98 season when he finished among the league's top five in assists and steals. He also received GTE Big XII Academic All-Conference accolades as well.

He transferred to Marquette. Barone made his debut in 1999-00 after sitting out one season as a transfer. He served as team captain during his tenure and was also named to the Conference USA All-Academic Team.

Barone earned his bachelor's degree in communications from Marquette in 2000 and completed his master's in communications at MU in 2002.

Basketball runs in Barone's family. His father, Tony Sr., played at Duke and was the head coach at Creighton, Texas A&M and the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies,as well as being the Director of Player Personnel for the Grizzlies. His brother, Tony, Jr., has been a college assistant coach, a Director of Scouting in the NBA, and currently is the assistant director for development and enforcement for men’s basketball with the NCAA.

Barone and his wife, Mimi, have a son, Carson, and three daughters, Ava, Gianna and Cecilia.